The Transmission of Chinese Medicine

Book excerpt: This is a study of traditional medical education in the People's Republic of China. The author became a disciple of a scholarly private practitioner, a Qigong master; attended courses given by a senior acupuncturist and masseur; and studied with undergraduates at the Yunnan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where the standardized knowledge of official Chinese medicine is inculcated. She compares theories and practices of these different Chinese medical traditions, and her fascinating insider's account of traditional medical practices brings out the way in which the context of instruction shapes knowledge.